New Tool Finally Allows Women to Map Incidents of Street Harassment

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For many women, the fight against street harassment can often feel endless. No matter what time of day, no matter what state of dress (track pants, sweatpants, muumuu), so many women are subject to nonstop street harassment—without anywhere to turn. A new app known as Hollaback! (exclamation point intended) hopes to change all that by offering victims a chance to record painful incidents and then share them on a map for other consumers to see, track, and ultimately, prevent.

Available on both iPhone and Android, Hollaback! will allow women to visualize where most incidents of street harassment in their city occur, and where they’re (likely) to find peace. Women have further been encouraged to share their stories of street harassment under the hashtag #iHollaback. The goal, producers told Bustle, is to raise real national awareness about a real national problem. “We know that movements start because people tell their stories,” Emily May, Co-founder and Executive Producer told Bustle. “In the last five years, we’ve seen the public conversation on street harassment change drastically as people stand up and share their experiences.”

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/TimestepJess/status/644256260490072064" author="Jessica Miller" handle="TimestepJess" text="Got catcalled while walking around with my arm in a sling. Yes, the catcall mentioned the sling. Congrats sir, you're the worst. #iHollaback" date="2015-09-16" time=""]

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/blessthisjess/status/644134942612582400" author="Jess Bender" handle="blessthisjess" text="According to the random who hit on me on the M train, I am "Ripe for Babymaking" years old. #iHollaback " date="2015-09-16" time=""]

In some countries around the world (though clearly not in the United States—we’re far too busy trying to defund pap smears), legislatures have made aggressive efforts to make street harassment illegal. While it’s unclear how effective the judicial system will be, street harassment is starting to be recognized as an international problem, and a simple app hopes to build a serious case—with facts.

(Via: Bustle)